This week, Marvel takes us to one of my favorite corners of the Spider-Verse. A place where Peter never made a deal with the actual devil that resulted in his marriage being cosmically annulled. As an unabashed fan of MJ + Peter—and someone who enjoyed the previous series—this is something I’ve looked forward to for a while.
Is it good?
Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #1 (Marvel Comics)
Observations
- Someone should tell Pete that fighting an awesome version of the Scorpion is a perfectly acceptable reason to hang up and call back.
- Whoever this new villain is really needs to learn how to respect a balance sheet.
- Yeah, I’d run like crazy to get home for a “Code Green,” too.
- Seeing MJ and Peter be cool (but still kind of strict) parents to Annie makes me wish we got to see even more of this family ☹
- Hard to go wrong with dinosaurs.
- Hell yeah, MJ.
- What the heck?
Is It Good?
It’s great to see Ryan Stegman drawing Spider-Man again. Not only are his pencils great, but he also manages to perfectly capture the spider-like motions and quickness that make the panels jump off the page.
As far as the story is concerned, however, Gerry Conway’s script ends up being a whole lot of warm, fuzzy, and fun setup with very little substance behind it. We get hints of a shadowy person in the background (who already feels dangerously close to be a retread of the series’ last big bad), but not much else. The issue also ends on a cliffhanger that’s pretty standard “WE HAVE TO SAVE THIS PERSON!” fare.
All that said, Conway does do a great job establishing a strong dynamic among the Parkers, both as a family and a force for good. We also get the appearance of two classic villains, which ups the nostalgia factor (in a good way) to an already old school-feeling issue. Add in Stegman’s aforementioned gorgeous artwork (including the chance to see him draw a dinosaur attacking New York), and this one’s still worth picking up. Let’s just hope things start to ramp up now that all the familial cards are on the table.
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